Basically, the short version is that creator Joel Hodgson says there’s a reboot in the works that will feature a new host. The long version is this blockquote.

[Trace] Beaulieu: The younger generation is full of riffers.

Even the series’ creators kept riffing, albeit separately: In 2006, Nelson, Corbett, and Murphy launched RiffTrax, which creates downloadable commentaries for films ranging from Plan 9 From Outer Space to Twilight. The next year, Hodgson, Beaulieu, Pehl, Conniff, and Weinstein started a MST3K-like live show called Cinematic Titanic.

But this year Mystery Science Theater may finally get a long-­rumored, heavily anticipated reboot. This spring Hodgson is hoping to start a new online incarnation of the show, one that will feature a fresh (and as-yet-unannounced) host and cameos from many MST3K alumni.

Hodgson: I’ve talked to a bunch of fans about their lives and what MST3K means to them. I’m overwhelmed by how people took to that show. It really affected them. I thought, if enough people still love it, maybe we can bring it back.

Even avid viewers sometimes don’t realize that every major role in the show had been swapped out over time. So in my mind, the show is built to be refreshed with new people and new ideas. It’s like Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle as it applies to MST3K: If it doesn’t change, it’s not the same show. And fortunately for us, as long as there are movies, there are always going to be cheesy movies.

So there’s that, which is either excellent news or terrible news, depending on how you feel about the creator of one of your favorite shows rebooting it 15 years later with all new people. No judgment here. In fact, all I really know is this: As an avid fan of both crappy movies and making fun of crappy movies, I find the phrase “as long as there are movies, there are always going to be cheesy movies” strangely comforting.

I was always a Mike guy – possibly because the episode where he came aboard, Mitchell!, was my all time favorite, ….. and as I’m typing this i’m realizing that Joel was actually with the robots watching Mitchell!… OH MY GOD MY LIFE IS A LIE.

Every single MST3K post this site does I wondered why the show wasn’t being rebooted. Finally a few weeks ago someone said it all had to do with the asshole who played Gypsy refusing with his piece of the rights. Maybe that’s why Joel wants to do it online?

Seems like kind of a waste to me, it’s meant to be watched on TV late at night with all the lights out. I still think it would be perfect for 1 a.m. on Adult Swim or IFC.

The asshole who played Gypsy (Jim Mallon) owns half the rights (Joel’s got the other half), and is apparently the stick in the mud stopping any reboot unless he’s involved. Joel reportedly wanted to bring the show back seven years ago, and was rebuffed. So he went on to start Cinematic Titanic, and Mike Nelson’s doing just fine with Rifftrax. Heck, Mike, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett did an Reddit AMA a few weeks ago for the NatGeo special, and Bill mentioned that Best Brains Inc. (the legal entity that owns MST3k – essentially Mallon at this point) had shot down any attempt to use the characters. (Bill misses the robots, too.)

Once The Asshole and Joel bury the legal hatchet, I’d imagine MST3k: The Next Generation would be an easy sell for somebody (Joel couldn’t do a new series without Jim’s okay, be it web or TV).

Plus MST3k reruns are coming back on RetroTV this summer, so there’s that.